Implementation of TPM

Implementation of TPM can be broken into various steps as

Step One – Identify Pilot Area

In this step the target equipment for the pilot TPM program is selected. There are three logical ways to approach this selection.

Which Equipment?	Pros	Cons
Easiest to Improve	Best opportunity for a “quick win”. More forgiving of limited TPM experience.	Less payback than improving constraint equipment. Does not “test” the TPM process as strongly as the other options.
Constraint/Bottleneck	Immediately increases total output.   Provides fastest payback.	Working on a critical asset as a trial project is a higher risk option. May result in equipment being offline more than desired as it is improved.
Most Problematic	Improving this equipment will be well-supported by operators.   Solving well-known problems will strengthen support for the TPM project.	Less payback than improving constraint equipment. Unsolved problems are often unsolved for a reason – it may be challenging to get good results.

For a company with limited TPM experience and/or support (whether through internal staff or external consultants) the best choice is usually the easiest to improve equipment. For a company with moderate or strong TPM experience and/or support (whether through internal staff or external consultants) the best choice is almost always the Constraint/Bottleneck equipment. The key is to minimize potential risk by building temporary stock and otherwise ensuring that unanticipated down time can be tolerated.

Teams often gravitate to selecting the Most Problematic equipment. This, however, is rarely the best choice (unless it happens to also be the Constraint/Bottleneck). In order to create a wide base of support for the TPM project, make sure to include the full spectrum of associated employees (operators, maintenance personnel, and managers) in the selection process, and work hard to create a consensus within the group as to the equipment selection choice. Once the pilot area has been selected, create a local visual focus for the project (e.g. a project board) where plans and progress updates can be posted.

Step Two – Restore Equipment to Prime Operating Condition

In this step, the equipment will be cleaned up and otherwise prepped for improved operation. Two key TPM concepts will be introduced

• 5S
• Autonomous Maintenance

First, a 5S program should be initiated as

• Take photographs to capture the initial state of equipment and post on the project board.
• Clear the debris, unused tools and components, and any other items that are not needed.
• Organize remaining tools and components onto shadow boards.
• Thoroughly clean the equipment and surrounding area.
• Take photographs to capture the improvement and post on the project board.
• Create a simple 5S Checklist for the area.
• Schedule a periodic audit to verify that the 5S Checklist is being followed. During the audit, update the checklist as needed. Keep audits positive and motivational.

Next, an Autonomous Maintenance program should be initiated by building a consensus between operators and maintenance personnel on which recurring tasks can be productively performed by operators. In many cases, light training will be required to bring up the skill level of operators.

• Identify and document key inspection points (all wear parts should be included). Consider creating a map of inspection points as a visual aid.
• Replace opaque guarding with transparent guarding in cases where inspection points are obscured (where feasible and safe to do so).
• Identify and document all set points and their associated settings. Consider indicating settings directly on the equipment as a visual aid for inspection and auditing.
• Identify and document all lubrication points. Schedule lubrication to occur during changeovers or other planned stops (in other words, avoid creating new sources of down time). Consider externalizing lubrication points that are difficult to access or that require stopping the equipment (where feasible and safe to do so).
• Train operators to bring any anomalies or emerging conditions to the attention of the line supervisor.
• Create a simple Autonomous Maintenance Checklist for all inspection, set point, lubrication, and other operator-controlled maintenance tasks (creating standardized work for the Autonomous Maintenance process).
• Schedule a periodic audit (first daily, then weekly) to verify that the Autonomous Maintenance Checklist is being followed. During the audit, update the checklist as needed to keep it current and relevant. Keep audits positive and motivational (treat them as a training exercise).

Step Three – Start Measuring OEE

In this step, a system is put into place to track OEE for the target equipment. For most equipment, the largest losses are a result of down time. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to categorize each down time event to get a clear picture of where productive time is being lost. It is also recommended to include a category for “unallocated” down time (i.e. down time where the cause is unknown). Providing a category for unallocated down time is especially important with manually tracked OEE. It improves accuracy by providing operators with a safe option when the down time reason is not clear.

Data should be gathered for a minimum of two weeks to identify recurring reasons for equipment down time, and to identify the impact of small stops and slow cycles. Review the data during each shift to ensure that it is accurate and to verify that the true causes of down time are being captured. Pareto charts are an excellent way to visualize down time reasons.

Step Four – Address Major Losses

In this step, the most significant sources of lost productive time are addressed. The TPM concept of Focused Improvement (also known as Kaizen) is introduced.

• Based on equipment-specific OEE and down time data, select one major loss to address. In most cases, the major loss that is selected should be the largest source of down time.
• Create a cross-functional team to address the problem. This team should include four to six employees (operators, maintenance personnel, and supervisors) with the best equipment knowledge and experience…and that are likely to work well together.
• Collect detailed information on symptoms of the problem, including observations, physical evidence, and photographic evidence. Consider using an Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram at the equipment to collect observations.
• Organize a structured problem solving session to: a) identify probable causes of the problem, b) evaluate probable causes against the gathered information, and c) identify the most effective fixes.
• Schedule planned down time to implement the proposed fixes. If there is an existing change control process, be sure to utilize that process when implementing fixes.
• Restart production and determine the effectiveness of the fixes over an appropriate time period. If sufficiently effective, document any changes to procedures and move on to the next major loss. Otherwise, collect additional information and organize another structured problem solving session.

During this step, OEE data should continue to be carefully reviewed each shift to monitor the status of losses that have already been addressed, as well as to monitor overall improvements in productivity.

Step Five – Introduce Proactive Maintenance Techniques

In this step, proactive maintenance techniques are integrated into the maintenance program (thus introducing the TPM concept of Planned Maintenance).

First, identify all components that are candidates for proactive maintenance

• Identify and document all components that undergo wear (these should have been established as inspection points in Step Two). Consider replacing wear components with low-wear or no-wear versions.
• Identify and document all components that are known to regularly fail.
• Consider utilizing vibration analysis to provide additional insights as to equipment stress points.

Next, establish initial proactive maintenance intervals

• For wear components, establish the current wear level and a baseline replacement interval (in some cases replacement may be triggered early by an Autonomous Maintenance inspection as established in Step Two).
• For failure-prone components, establish a baseline (predicted) failure interval.
• Create a baseline Planned Maintenance Schedule that schedules proactive replacement of all wear and failure-prone components. Consider using “Run Time” rather than “Calendar Time” as the interval time base.
• Create a standard process for generating Work Orders based on the Planned Maintenance Schedule.

Next, create a feedback system for optimizing the maintenance intervals

• Create a Component Log sheet for each wear and failure-prone component. Record every instance of replacement, along with information about the component condition at the time of replacement (e.g. wear amount, “component failed”, “no observable issues”, etc.).
• Perform a monthly Planned Maintenance audit: a) verify that the Planned Maintenance Schedule is being followed, b) verify that the Component Log sheets are being maintained, and c) review all new entries in the Component Log and adjust maintenance intervals where appropriate. Keep audits positive and motivational (treat them as a training exercise).
• Anytime there is an unscheduled component replacement, consider adjusting the maintenance interval. If the component is not on the Planned Maintenance Schedule, consider adding it.
• Consider plotting data over time from vibration analysis to expose emerging problems and issues.